Russia inspects PwC office over tax claims, YUKOS

MOSCOW, March 9 (Reuters) - Russian police inspected the
Moscow office of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) [PWC.UL] on Friday
over back-tax claims and a criminal investigation into the
auditors' former client YUKOS YUKO.MM, a spokeswoman for PwC
said.

"There are checks from the interior ministry to do with tax
claims for 2002," the spokeswoman said, adding PwC were accused
of owing the Russian tax authorities around $11 million.

"The tax authorities did not recognise our expenses to do
with paying for foreign experts' services," she said.

PwC denies it owes outstanding tax. The firm had lost three
legal cases over the tax claims and intended to appeal to the
Higher Arbitration Court, she added.

"The second inspection is by the Prosecutor-General's office
and is linked to the continuing criminal investigation into the
activity of YUKOS," the spokeswoman said.

No-one at the federal law enforcement authorities in Moscow
could be reached for comment.

Last December, Russian tax authorities filed a suit against
the local branch of PwC accusing it of producing a false audit
for YUKOS, once Russia's largest and most profitable oil firm.

Responding to that suit at the time, PwC said it acted
strictly in line with Russian law and was ready to defend its
position in court.

But the PwC spokeswoman said the checks on Friday were not
related to the suit and that prosecutors were seeking data to
help with their inquiry into YUKOS.

YUKOS's main shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky is serving
eight years in prison for fraud and tax evasion and his firm's
biggest assets have been auctioned off to pay off huge back tax
demands.

Khodorkovsky says he and his firm are the targets of a
Kremlin campaign to punish him for his political ambitions.
Officials deny any political motive.

PwC audits the accounts of many major Russian oil and gas
firms. In December, the firm said its clients were responsible
for one-half of Russia's overall gross domestic product.